Wall Street closes at landmark 14,000 level
Wall Street moved soundly higher today, sending the Dow Jones industrials to their first close above 14,000, as investors kept jitters about the economy at bay and focused on a string of upbeat earnings reports.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index also had a record close.
Profit news from companies like International Business Machines Corp., network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc., and business software company SAP AG help lift stocks and boosted investors' appetite for technology issues.
Resurgent concerns about the health of sub-prime loans, which are made to borrowers with poor credit history, hurt financial stocks, while a report that a would-be suitor for Alcoa Inc. had lost interest kept the Dow Jones industrial average from extending its gains.
The flurry of corporate news coincided with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's return to Capitol Hill for the second day of his semi-annual report to Congress in which he said problems such as foreclosures among holders of sub-prime mortgages are "likely to get worse before they get better".
Also, a research group predicted that the housing slump will cause the economy to contract slightly in coming months.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 82.19, or 0.59%, to 14,000.41.
The blue chip index throughout the session danced around the 14,000 mark, having first reached it on Tuesday but pulling below the milestone before the close.
The Dow's advance Thursday again put the index above 14,000 but did not propel it past the trading high of 14,021.95 set this week.
Broader stock indicators rose today.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 6.90, or 0.45%, to 1,553.07, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.55, or 0.76%, to 2,720.04.
